Beyond

by

Dinosaur Jr.

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("Beyond" by Dinosaur Jr.)

It's pretty much a fact of life these days that long-broken-up bands will reunite. What's surprising is that many of them have managed to retain the qualities that made them popular to begin with. Sometimes the bands will take the opportunity to reinvent themselves a bit (Wire's '02 comeback Send). Mostly, though, they go for their "original" sound, and usually the "original" songs, of their youth. It didn't really surprise me when Dinosaur Jr. reformed, even with all the personal drama surrounding the band's glimmer twins J. Mascis and Lou Barlow (all of which is beautifully dissected in Michael Azerrad's book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991). I saw them live not long after the reunion was announced, and even though Mascis' curtain of brown hair had turned into a curtain of gray hair that made him look more like the lead vocalist for a Norwegian Black Metal band, their sound was remarkably consistent from the good ole daze. Fast forward to '07, and would ya believe that the new album is remarkably close in sound and general purpose to albums like the still-incredible Bug? Ultra-loud n' dirty grunge-stomp blues/country/punk, and can I have another solo please?--then add on some sweet, wistful pop melodies just to make things more confusing. It's almost as if the last 19 years never happened (although the post-breakup Dino Jr. albums, not to mention Barlow's influential Sebadoh, are nothing to sneeze at). At least, that's what I thought at first. Upon repeated listens, slight refinements and tweaks can be heard. Chief among these are the number of Mascis' guitar solos. Obviously he realizes his role as a post-punk guitar hero, and this album fills in every available space, and creates new ones, for his beautifully unconventional shredding skills. The second half of the 6 1/2 minute "Pick Me Up" is a joyful celebration of over-amped sloppiness--which is a pretty high compliment in my neck of the woods. While there are no songs here as immediately memorable as "Freak Scene" (which has become an anthem of sorts for alt-rock weirdos like yours truly), songs like the album opener "Almost Ready" come pretty close, and to compound the non-surprises, it might even become more highly enshrined in my musical head-space. Meanwhile, there's the soft ballad "I Got Lost," with its almost jazz-like drumming (all hail Murph, by the way) and washes of plaintive violin, which I don't think the Dino of old was even capable of. Barlow's "Lightning Bulb," one of two contributions from him on the album, reminds us what a great songwriter he always was (Sebadoh proved this), and makes me glad that he and Mascis were able to resolve their personal animosities. All this, and I haven't even mentioned the influence of Neil Young & Crazy Horse--that, then is what makes this album one step Beyond (sorry, I couldn't resist): The good ole daze were never this good!

Just to make it perfectly clear, I think 'Beyond' is a brilliant album by the re-formed original lineup that harkens back to their earlier material and is certainly worthy of 5 stars. It never travels too far from my CD player. That being said, I sprung for the "import" version that has two extra tracks: "Yer Son" (a good, but not great, Dino Jr. song) and "Tiny Town" (40 seconds of punk riffing that could've been done by anybody). In my opinion, not worth twice (or more) the price of what the regular release is going for. Unless you're a die-hard Dinosaur Jr. completist or can find the "extra tracks" version at a great price, just buy the regular version and use the money saved to buy a copy of 'You're Living All Over Me', 'Green Mind' or some other early Dinosaur Jr.